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Finding a Different View

Members of the Lakewood Ranch Digital Photography Club and their friends on July 31 wrapped up a yearlong quest to capture 52 weeks worth of themed images.

Members of the Lakewood Ranch Digital Photography Club and their friends on July 31 wrapped up a yearlong quest to capture 52 weeks worth of themed images.

The club will starts its fourth 52-Week Challenge photo blog challenge this week.

“Participating in the challenge is not only a way to improve your photography but also a way to grow friendships,” one of the campaign’s co-founders Mindy Towns says. “We are not only learning and practicing new photography technics, but we are learning to look at the world a little more closely and express our creativity with every theme.”

Here, bloggers share some of their favorite images, which represent either a “best” photo or one for which they learned a new technique or overcame particular challenges to achieve.

The challenge is open to photo club members and nonmembers alike. To get involved, contact Mary Nell Morre at [email protected].

This photo depicts Correo Calle at the intersection of De La Barranca Calle, looking south on Correo toward the Center of San Miguel de Allende (Guanajuato), Mexico.

“During a recent vacation, this breath-taking vista was what greeting my husband and me each morning as we arose, prepared for the day and went out for breakfast. In fact, several time a day, for seven days, we went down and back up this hill, about three-quarter miles each way. It is certainly true that we ended this vacation much more physically-fit than we ever imagined,” Thompson says.

“I got the idea from our local newspaper,” Lee says of her photo. “They had published that Mumm, a champagne maker had picked their pinot noir grapes a week earlier than last year. It got me thinking, so I loaded my tripod and camera in the car and took a short drive out to a Chardonnay vineyard.”

Lee then took a walk, found the clusters she wanted to photograph and waited for the right light.

Photo by Mindy Towns

Mindy Towns

Central Park

Theme: Reflections

Website: mindytowns.wordpress.com

Near a lighthouse called Nubble Light, Towns lay on the ground to get a closeup perspective from a puddle to capture this image. The idea was one she’d learned from another 52-week Challenge blogger and had wanted to try.

Nerenz took this shot just after sunset out in San Diego, Calf. It’s a view of the bridge going over to Coronado Island from a pier used by commercial fishing boats.

“I went exploring near my hotel in San Diego and discovered a pier behind a popular restaurant that I had frequented for 20 years without ever noticing what was behind it,” Nerenz says. “I had the place all to myself and shot all sorts of images of the skyline of San Diego, work boats tied up and sea lions resting on the docks the night fisherman had left empty.”

Photo by Bill Mills

Bill Mills

The Lake Club

Theme: Holiday Spirit

Website: billemills.wordpress.com

“I love this one of my granddaughter, Riley, as it captures her bubbly personality but also challenged me as I wanted the Christmas tree lights behind her to be blurry versus sharp. “I called the picture 'Little Elfie’ and sent it out on Christmas Day into the 52-Week Challenge.”

Wong took this image while on an 11-day visit to Wyoming. He describes this view as the “gem” of his trip to the Wyoming Pryor Mountain range, where he stood 1,000 feet above the canyon floor and the Big Horn River at the Big Horn Canyon National Recreation Area. This image is the second of two in his post.

“The sun started peaking through and I took this shot looking north and west from the above overlook,” he says.

“Doing a controlled sun flare is difficult because you do not want to damage the camera sensor by aiming it directly at the sun,” she says. “This was taken early in the morning when the sun rays are not as strong. The task was to get the sun positioned right behind the hibiscus and only catch a ‘twinkling’ of the sun as the breeze moved the flower. With aiming the camera up towards the sky it caused the sky to completely wash out giving the white background. The sun flare then took a golden glow, setting up the image for use as a Christmas card look.”

Photo by Susan Piper

Susan Piper

University Park

Theme: One Step at a Time

Website: susankpiper.wordpress.com

During a visit to a rookery on the Braden River, Piper watched and photographed a number of birds building nests or settling down for the evening.

“Among the storks and egrets were some magnificent spoonbill roseates. They are graceful when flying but look so ungainly when they come in to land jutting their feet and legs out in front, spreading their wings to break speed and then finding and alighting on a landing spot,” Piper says. “This one couldn’t decide which small little branch he was going to light upon and walked from branch to branch until he found one of his liking.”

Photo by Liz Catarine

Liz Cantarine

River Club

Theme: Backlit

Website: lizcantarine.wordpress.com

Cantarine shot this shot on the Monterey Peninsula in California in September 2014.

"As we drove along Ocean View Boulevard in Pacific Grove, the sun produced a dramatic backlight on these coastal wildflowers, and I knew I had my shot for the 'Backlit' theme of the challenge,” she says.

Photo by Christine Veneruso

Christine Veneruso

Lakewood Ranch

Theme: Solitary

Website: 52weekssnaphappy.wordpress.com

“The model in this photograph is an actor on a cable western TV show, filmed at Dry Creek ,where this was taken,” Veneruso says. “He was very at home in front of the cameras and graciously posed as long as we wanted.”

Photo by Carolyn Eliason

Carolyn Eliason

Lakewood Ranch Country Club

Theme: Natural Beauty

Website: carolyneli.wordpress.com

Eliason took this image at the Florida Polytechnic University when the photo club took a field trip there.

“They have not only a beautiful building to photograph but, the surrounding lakes also offer many photographic opportunities,” Eliason says.

She also entered this image in the Florida Camera Club Council Digital Competition in June and it earned a yellow ribbon.

Photo by Sheryl Vieira

Sheryl Viera

Siesta Key

Theme: On Two wheels

Website: sevmarketing.wordpress.com

Viera was touring downtown Boston on a Saturday morning in August 2014 when this photo opportunity came her way.